Change of Heart
by Doubleplusgoodduckspeaker
Summary: Ryou wouldn’t change anything about Yugi, but if he could he’d change his heart. Heartshipping RyouxYugi.


Title: Change of Heart

Author: Doubleplusgoodduckspeaker

Summary: Ryou wouldn't change anything about Yugi, but if he could he'd change his heart. Heartshipping RyouxYugi.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Notes: Written for round two of Computerfreak101's Contest…Heartshipping; RyouxYugi. If there had to be any pairing for my first story of this…_nature_ *ducks sheepishly*I'm glad it was this one. I've actually never written Ryou before either, so after copious amounts of research… here we go.

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"What time is it?"

"6:45, the same time you asked me thirty seconds ago!"

Yugi apologized, a pleased blush crossing over his features as he skidded across the hallway in his socked feet. He was half-dressed, running back and forth between his room and the bathroom across the hallway. Ryou masked a smile behind the book he was reading from the living room. This exact routine had played out twice now. On Friday nights the apartment that the two shared became filled with excitement and anticipation...well, for one of them, anyway. Ryou stood up and stretched, carefully returning the book to its proper place on a wide wicker bookcase before making his way to his own bedroom. Yugi took this way too seriously; he looked at every day as a gift, and dressed accordingly, taking twice as long to get ready as himself. Ryou didn't exactly understand this trait, but accepted it in his friend. _It would all be worth it, anyway. If that's what it took, I would spend forever waiting for him. _

Emerging from his room with a sweater, Ryou doubled over, hacking as he walked into a cloud of hair spray fumes spilling out from the open door of the bathroom. "Seriously, Yugi, what part of your income that doesn't go to cards immediately gets spent on hair products." He should be used to Yugi's beauty routine by now, and even though he'd never admit it, he didn't mind it—much.

Yugi grinned at his friend, the offending can in one hand. "Sorry, but how else can I achieve my 'signature look?'" He resumed spraying, careful not to aim towards the door. "I'm still amazed that you don't put anything in your hair, Ryou."

"No, just conditioner. And don't you ever give away my style secret," Ryou hovered in the doorway, watching Yugi fix his hair in the mirror.

"Hey Ryou?"

"Hmm..?" He silently checked himself. That reply was a little too quick and a little too eager.

"Do you know where my jacket is? I wanted to wear the leather one, but I can't remember where I put it."

Ryou was already gone, wandering down the hall towards the coat closet near the door. "You always leave everything lying around, so I put them where they belong." He didn't mind cleaning up after Yugi, either. _I'm sure when I need him; he'll be there for me_. The door opened with a squeak of protest as he rummaged through the coats, eventually draping one over each arm.

"Hey Yugi?"

"Hmm..?"

He couldn't help but smile. Yugi was in his own bedroom, the door half-open. Ryou rapped his knuckles softly on the door before poking his head around the threshold. "Which one do you want—the leather with the metal or the leather with the…leather?"

Yugi laughed at the joke, even if it was at his own expense. He was dressed almost entirely in black leather, the only color coming from his eyes and hair which shone out like the headlights of a sleek sports car. "I'll go with the first one, you know, mix it up a little." He shuffled awkwardly, slipping the jacket on with practiced ease, the collar brushing the bottoms of his hair.

"Now the look is complete." Yugi couldn't help the self-conscious smile that emerged almost reflexively at Ryou's appraisal.

"Do you think she's going to like it?" A hand tucked a stray strand of hair behind one ear. He did it whenever he was nervous.

Ryou's fingers, which had been buttoning one cuff on the leather jacket still draped over his arm, froze at the words. His entire frame froze, and it took several moments to simply understand the question. _Please, just ask me anything else but that. I'm right here, I've always been here, and can deny you nothing, except for what is impossible for me to give_.

A hastily made smile reassured Yugi that all was well. "Of course she will." _How could anyone not like you?_ He felt Yugi's eyes burning on him. Ryou's eyes darted anywhere else but on the man before him; he knew that with just one look, he'd give everything away.

The shrill alarm-clock-like ring of the doorbell jolted them both out of the moment. "Looks like Anzu's here"—and Ryou's voice never sounded so small— "you'd better not keep her waiting."

"Right." Yugi stepped around Ryou, who had yet to move at all from his position at the door to Yugi's room. "Are you sure you're going to be alright? Can I get you anything?"

_Just go. She's waiting for you, too_. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." From his stance in the hallway he heard Yugi's voice complimenting Anzu on her outfit. He sounded so happy. Yugi had been chasing her for who knows how long, and he had finally caught her.

_Why do I keep torturing myself like this?_ He wanted, so badly, to have the sort of relationship with Yugi that he deserved. Ryou wouldn't change anything about Yugi, but if he could he'd change his heart.

The main door swung closed with a resounding _whoosh_. For one full minute, it was completely silent inside the apartment. Then Ryou finally moved.

Slowly Ryou made his way to the sofa in the living room, the creaking of the floorboards purposefully serving to fill the silence. He sank into the pillows and blew several strands of hair out of his face before realizing that he still held a leather jacket in his hands. _Yugi's leather jacket… _It was soft, a sure sign that it was worn often. In a flash of inspiration he tried to put the jacket on with the same flair which Yugi did, but it was too small to fit him. Ryou settled for just threading his arms through the sleeves of the jacket, drawing it close to his chest in a sort of embrace. As the sound of a motor revving pierced through his thoughts, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if it was him, not Anzu, that Yugi _thoughttalkeddreamt_ about…

The jacket smelled of hair product and peppermint. _If Yugi was happy, then that's enough for me to be happy_. Curled up with the jacket in his arms, Ryou resolved to stay awake until Yugi came home, but felt his eyelids grow heavy and they fluttered once, twice, before closing. In no short time he had slipped away to the escape of his dreams.

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